Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Sabal Trust CO

Sabal Trust CO lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 295,873 shares of the company’s stock after selling 885 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 1.5% of Sabal Trust CO’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Sabal Trust CO’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $26,558,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $79.74 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $133.43. The stock has a market cap of $200.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.